This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
DENVER -- RJ Petit could have done without the unexpected pain that came from, of all risky activities, cooking pasta. But at least a good story came with it, which is more than what he can say about most days.
Petit is a 6-foot-8 reliever who was selected from the Tigers in the 2025 Rule 5 Draft, and was ticketed for the Rockies’ bullpen this year, But he sustained a right elbow injury during Spring Training that required Tommy John surgery. He understood that the operation can cost a pitcher 12-14 months. But nothing prepped him for the boredom headed his way in weeks after surgery, when the Rockies’ rehab staff at the team’s training center in Scottsdale, Ariz., will not let him do much.
“Hands on, each day, probably 30-45 minutes,” said Petit, who underwent his operation on March 20. “And I get everything done in an hour and a half to two hours -- I drag my feet when I get to the facility.”
So, he has one good story.
First, an anatomy lesson: To replace the UCL ligament in the elbow, the preferred procedure is to transfer part of the palmaris longus tendon from the forearm/inner wrist. But Petit doesn’t have that tendon. Many folks don’t.
“Luck of the draw,” he said.
So in his case, they chose part of the hamstring tendon, which connects near the knee. So count Petit, 26, among the patients who have to rehab the knee and hamstring area, the left one in his case.
Now, for the unfortunate noodle incident …
“I was making dinner -- a simple rigatoni with the meat sauce, nothing crazy,” Petit said. “I would hardly call it a recipe. I made the pasta in water. Then I crushed the meat and poured sauce in there and let it all heat up together.
“I had meat sauce in the pan, cooking. The pasta just finished. I strained and started mixing it up. Then there was a rogue piece of rigatoni that flipped up out of the pan, because it had sauce on it.
“It was going to hit my pajama pants. And I instinctively jerked my leg back. I felt a little pop in my leg. I just sat there, holding my leg, trying not to curse out the world.”
Even with the pasta-induced leg rehab, his days are monotonous.
But at least he can tell a funny story.
He has better stories than fellow Rockies righty Pierson Ohl, who came in an offseason trade with the Twins after posting a 5.10 ERA last year in his 14-game MLB debut season, only to undergo Tommy John surgery on March 4. Ohl’s stories occurred while he was under anesthesia and being operated on by Dr. Keith Meister, a noted orthopedic surgeon who also operated on Petit.
“Dr. Meister pulled the tendon out of the wrist, and said, ‘Oh, goodness, it’s too muscular at the bottom,’” Ohl said. “So he did an audible and took it out of my [right] leg. I wake up from surgery, and my wife and one of the Rockies’ PTs are there, and I go, ‘Why is my leg hurting?’
“My mom was freaking out. I’m a low walk percentage guy. My mom was like, ‘Your command is going to suffer because you’re missing that ligament now.’
“I said, ‘Mom, that’s the least of my worries. It’s so far away.’”
As for the days since, they have been a little more interesting than Petit’s, but not.
“I have my wife, so I’m not sitting by myself, sulking,” Ohl said. “RJ doesn’t have a wife. I don’t know what he does all day.’
“And for the first six weeks, you can’t even sweat much because they don’t want to deal with infection. Being in Arizona, you can’t go outside without sweating.”
Often it’s the two of them doing what little exercise they are allowed to do in the first month-plus, hanging out in Scottsdale. They have watched Rockies games together, but have to fight the urge to jump out of their chairs when something happens. When it’s early enough in the morning or not too hot, they take barefoot “grounding” walks together on the conditioning field a few feet from the Rockies’ building where they do the rehab.
Because Ohl, 26, had his operation 16 days before Petit, Ohl is out of the bulky, adjustable arm brace. Petit has another week in his. Activity will pick up, but it’s still a long slog.
But the Rockies aren’t letting them be totally bored to tears.
Both were invited to Denver during the just-completed homestand. They were allowed to be around their teammates at Coors Field, wear uniforms and sit with their teammates during games. They can keep the goal in mind. They’ll be around for selected homestands and take some road trips as their activity increases.
“It’s that light at the end of the tunnel,” Ohl said. “And the Rockies have been incredible. [President of baseball operations Paul] DePodesta texted me on surgery day and the day after. It’s the culture. We felt that day from the day we came here.”
But when they aren’t around the club and they are bored in Scottsdale, they have each other.
“Pierson and I are pretty much joined at the hip,” Petit said.
Maybe boredom has its purpose.
“I know it’s 12-14 months, but haven’t looked at the calendar and planned it out,” Petit said. “It’s probably unhealthy in my head to see the date.”
For now, he’ll settle for monotonous rehab exercises and excitement-free nights over the stove at home.